Balcony makeover and did we really buy that?

My husband and I apparently have a new addiction. We are obsessed with dirt, seeds, and plants. I suppose that's better than drugs or alcohol..

Aside from flowers, we are now also growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, basil, oregano, thyme, and chives.





And we're the proud new owners of this cheap but delightful patio set from Ikea:



Yesterday, we happened upon a yard sale (okay, a definite out of our way kind of effort was made to go there) and the guy was selling a red box. We bought it:



But wait.. there was something in the red box. Any guesses? It's a...



Neither of us has ever played a trumpet but for $50, we decided to see if either of us would ever play one in the future. My husband has been "playing" it and sometimes I wonder why I am hearing elephant noises till I realize there is a definite learning curve with this thing. Our neighbors must hate us.

"Gardening" adventures

My parents were kind enough to give us the two flower boxes we have going on our balcony. One was filled with dirt and my parents mentioned it already had seeds in it. Well, we went ahead and planted flowers in it anyway and then we noticed mystery plants sprouting in there. I called my parents to ask what seeds they used and they couldn't remember. This is the mystery plant:



There appear to be at least three growing in there now.

The Topsy Turvy plants seem to be doing well, at least for now. The tomato plant seems to be doing especially well. Here she is in her current state:



And I'm not sure but I'm hoping that the little things in this picture are going to be tomato flowers soon:



We went to the Arboretum for a walk and barely escaped before a downpour. I was able to sneak some shots in though:

My nephew

I went to see my sister and my nephew yesterday. I'm so in love!

He got a kiss from my sister and either smiled or had gas:



And napping away on me:

Three year anniversary

Today is our three year wedding anniversary. Three years from the happiest day of my life when we vowed we would grow old together.

A look back to our perfect wedding day three years ago:





My eyes were smiling as we said our vows:





I wish we could do something tonight to celebrate but, unfortunately, my husband has class till 9. I came home from work and my sneaky husband left this surprise:







I am so thankful to have the best husband in the world.

Not for the faint of heart

My husband and I were walking today and saw this crushed snake (roadkill). Any idea on what kind of a snake it could be? Thank god it didn't have one ounce of life left in it because I would have died.

Boston garden

City dwellers should be able to garden too, right? It's only fair. We decided to use our small balcony to appease our desires to garden. So we purchased some flowers boxes and a variety of flowers.





In hindsight, we would have planted the taller flowers on the ends, but that's okay.

And then.. we fell for it. We bought a Topsy Turvy and this is after we watched a bunch of youtube videos about how it doesn't work. But, we couldn't resist and bought a fancy one with multiple holes a stand. Just like this one:



And we decided to live on the edge and use it for not only one kind of plant.. not two.. but three. We picked one tomato plant, one pepper plant, and a basil plant. Hopefully one will survive this experiment in physics.

The tomato plant:



The basil:



And the petite pepper plant:

Beef, barley and vegetable soup

I decided to make a beef, barley and vegetable soup for dinner. The smell in this house is ridiculously delightful. Oh, and if you are wondering where the barley is, I won't be putting it in till the last 20-30 minutes or so. Also, the huge chunks of meat will be cut up into smaller soup-sized chunks instead of shish kabob size.



So out of curiosity, who reads this blog? I'm looking for new blogs to read, so please comment. I'm also enabling anonymous commenting in case some of you readers don't have a blogger account.

Adding a photograph of the soup with normal human beef pieces and barley:



I accidentally made enough to feed a small army.

My favorite gift

I'm home sick from work today so I decided to play the role of a good housewife and prepare a delicious dinner. I have to admit it's kind of fun playing that role, but I'd have to be a "cooking only" housewife because there is absolutely nothing enjoyable about cleaning.

Anyway, as a gift last year my mom and dad bought my husband and I a Le Creuset French Oven (similar to the one below) and it has become our favorite kitchen item.



I decided to make beef stew in the Le Creuset to use up some of our potatoes. It's currently simmering away and should be ready in a couple of hours.

Taking the plunge

For those of you who know me, it probably isn't all that surprising that I'm finally starting my own business. I've wanted to start my own business for years, but I never actually had the most important attribute for any start-up: the courage to put my money behind the idea and to go for it. I can't share the details yet, but the website will probably be done in a week or so and then we will start tweaking and testing. I'm brimming with excitement, eager to see if the idea will take off. Someone recommended I read this book, so I'm thinking about ordering it:



If anyone has any other recommendations for books to read, I'd love to hear them.

Arboretum

My husband and I went for a stroll in the Arboretum. One of the things that we love about it so much is that different plants are always in bloom. The park literally changes visually from week to week and it's so much fun to see what is new.





These flowers were HUGE and right near the vine garden where we got married.

Rugs

Even though I'm sick, I couldn't pass up yard sales this morning. I'm so glad we went and that I used my last ounce of energy because we purchased three amazing rugs.

A huge Hamadan rug that needs to be cleaned:



Two smaller rugs with a similar design. I took the photographs on top of the larger rug so don't pay attention to the background:





If anyone knows anything about rugs, I'd love to learn more about these, particularly the two smaller ones.

Evening walk

Quiet Sunday

The weather was slightly on the cooler side today but that didn't stop us from venturing out to enjoy the day.



Bleeding Hearts:



And up close:



All alone: